"Be a good Australian" and stop panic buying fuel, warns PM

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sounded a warning to not only retailers overcharging for fuel, but also Australians buying more of it than they need, amid fears of fuel shortages due to conflict in the Middle East.

“My message to Australians as well is to not take more fuel than you need. That is how you can help,” he said at a doorstop interview in Burnie, Tasmania.

“Think of others. Be a good neighbour, a good community member, and a good Australian. It’s not the Australian way… Just take what you need, be sensible. There has been, in some places, a doubling of demand. That shouldn’t occur.

“We do have fuel security here in this nation, but we need to be sensible about these issues.”

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Mr Albanese also warned Australians who are both panic buying and storing excess fuel in an unsafe manner, following the emergence of anecdotal evidence on social media showing at least some service stations have run out of diesel.

The prime minister said there has been no interruption to fuel supplies into the country.

“The fuel is arriving as expected at this point in time. We’re continuing to monitor all of what is going on in global markets as well, but we continue to see ships arriving as has been scheduled,” he said, though he didn’t answer as to how long the government can guarantee it will keep arriving.

“Of course, we’re preparing for every contingency, and we’ll continue to do so,” he said.

“Australia remains well positioned because of the measures that were put in place, the role of the ACCC, the fuel reserves are the largest in 15 years. The fact that we have secure supplies coming through when it comes to diesel, for example, which has caused a lot of concern in regional areas, that comes from Korea, and we’ve been talking with our Korean friends as well about ensuring that supply continues.”

According to SBS, as of March 14, 2026, Australia has 29 days’ worth of petrol supply and 26 days of diesel. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has warned that fuel retailers have hiked prices much earlier than expected, and there have been reports of Australians stockpiling fuel.

The PM says the consumer watchdog will take action against inappropriate behaviour by fuel retailers. It plans to increase the maximum penalties for relevant breaches of Australian Consumer Law and the Competition and Consumer Act from $50 million to $100 million.

Under the Minimum Stockholding Obligation, fuel importers are required to hold 27 days’ worth of baseline level stocks of petrol and 32 days for diesel. For refiners, these numbers drop to 24 days and 20 days, respectively.

This month, the Australian Government released 20 per cent of the national stockpile of fuel – or 760 million litres – and prioritised its delivery to regional areas.

The government also announced fuel will have higher sulfur levels for the next 60 days, in a temporary rollback of recently imposed changes to our fuel quality.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said this would allow around 100 million litres a month to be introduced into Australian domestic supply – fuel that would otherwise have been exported.

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